Hard to Forgive
by Shantel Lukasik
Summary: Rayne was never able to get over how Hope had treated her as a child, but as a l'Cie with the same mission as him and his new friends, she had no choice but to be near him. Forgiving can be just as hard as forgetting. Maybe even impossible. HopexOC
1. Chapter 1

Rayne Neirien was dismayed by the sight of her hometown being overrun with PSICOM's members. The Purge had already taken both her parents and it apparently wasn't enough. Rayne hid in an alcove on the roof of one of the many houses in Palumpolum. With a sigh, she leaned back in the alcove and placed a hand on her whip, which was curled against her hip on a holster she'd made for it herself. Her long dark hair fit in with the dark alcove, making her less visible to anyone who would even think of looking up. She watched people being lined up to be put on the trains and PSICOM soldiers overseeing the endeavor. She pulled her knees up to her chest and placed her head on them. The chocobo feather that she wore as an earring dangled next to her cheek. The yellow color contrasted drastically with her hair and her dark purple outfit. Her ruffled skirt almost reached mid-thigh, but just almost. The shirt she wore was sleeveless, yet she wore dark purple gloves that went just past her elbows. The gloves had no ends, so her pale fingers were free to grip her whip when she needed it. She jumped as she heard a voice come over the town's intercom announcing l'Cie on the loose. Rayne peeked out from her hiding place and looked up at the huge screen closest to her. Many of these screens were placed all over the city so news could reach the civilians. Rayne gasped at the screen.

"L'Cie? Hope?"

On the screen, looking straight at the camera with worry written across their faces was a young woman with light pink hair and a younger boy with silver hair. Rayne gaped at the image of the boy.

"No way."

Rayne watched the screen as another young woman and a young man came onto the scene. She was amazed to see l'Cie fighting back. Examining the area, she took off across the rooftops. She saw figures of pure ice pop up in the center of the city, but she was a long way off. She stopped and stood on a rooftop looking around at where she should go. The screens showed that Hope had made his escape with the young man. Thinking carefully, she anticipated where they would go. It took her quite a few minutes, but she found them. She was slightly alarmed to see a crowd of people advancing on them. It was a mob. Rayne sighed at the sight. She knew that people were afraid of what they didn't know, and this was one of those instances. It hurt her deep in her heart to watch. She'd been through this herself so many times and she could see Hope was upset at the predicament. The mob was almost upon them when Rayne used her whip to swing herself down in front of the two males. The crowd stopped, unsure of the newest person on the scene.

"Back off," she said, cracking her whip.

The crowd took a step back. Someone seemed to notice she had a black brand on her shoulder.

"She's a l'Cie, too! Get her!"

Rayne readied herself to fight off an attack, but a hand wearing a black glove rested on her shoulder. She looked up to see a handsome young man with a black bandanna and light blonde hair grinning down at her.

"Don't fight them. They don't understand."

Rayne stared at him as he brought down the archway in front of them with l'Cie magic, putting it between them and the crowd. The man smiled down at her, but Rayne shook her head and pulled away from him. Turning, she looked at the familiar boy who stared at her in shock.

"Rayne."

She cringed slightly at the broken tone in his voice. Without a word she quickly took off running. The man shouted after her, but she kept moving. It was too hard for her to face him now. She wasn't ready yet. What had she expected? That he'd just forget how they had been for the past seven years? She didn't know where to go or what to do now. She was a l'Cie and it was a matter of time before they found her and the others as they ran around Palumpolum. She didn't have a home anymore. Her parents were dead. There was only one place she could go, but it was probably where Hope would go. It **was** his home after all. But, Mr. Estheim had always been nice to her. Even though he knew she was a l'Cie. With a deep breath, she ran off toward the Estheim home. It took her a long while, but she apparently got there before Hope and his friends did. Bartholomew Estheim pulled her into the house as soon as he saw it was her. He was moderately tall and wore a grey outfit. He had stubble growing on his chin and his glasses gave him an intelligent look.

"Rayne! Are you alright? Where have you been hiding? Have you seen Hope?"

Rayne was about to answer when the doorbell rang. She pointed at the front door.

"I think that is him. I'm gonna hide out in the spare room."

Before he could call her, she rushed down the hall and disappeared. She didn't actually go into the spare room, but she listened to the conversation Hope had with his father. The boy was obviously surprised that his father truly cared about him. They had always had a bit of a strange relationship, but it was only due to the fact that Hope didn't seem to understand his father. He had always been very close with his mother. Apparently she had died, just like her parents had. Rayne was alarmed as a tall woman came up beside her. She had wavy dark brown hair and her outfit was black with a pretty blue wrap worn around her body.

"Hello, there," she said, in a strange accent," I'm Fang. Who are you to be eavesdropping on them?"

"I'm…a friend of the family….My name is Rayne Neirien. I've known Hope since we were little."

Fang smiled.

"You two still look little to me. How old are you?"

Rayne's face went red and she gave Fang a slightly defiant expression.

"Fourteen."

The woman smiled. She had only just met Hope and this young girl, but she could tell that Rayne was more outgoing, where Hope was shyer.

"So you two are friends?"

The girl's expression faltered and she looked away. Her eyes drifted into the living room where Hope and his father were having their heart-to-heart discussion.

"No."

Rayne turned and began walking toward the spare room, but she stopped at the sound of her name.

"Hope…Rayne is here as well."

There was an awkward silence in the house. Bartholomew pressed on.

"Maybe you should talk to her? You can understand her now…"

Rayne ran to the spare room, only to be surprised at finding the young woman with light pink hair and the guy who had been with Hope in there. The man lay on the bed, his torso bandaged, but he managed to smile at her and wave. She blushed slightly and moved toward them. The young woman didn't smile, but just watched her enter. She wore a guard outfit, which confused Rayne. A guard for Cocoon couldn't be a l'Cie, right?

"I'm…sorry about earlier," Rayne told the man with an apologetic bow," I ran off without introducing myself. My name is Rayne."

He waved a hand at her.

"Hey. No worries. The name's Snow. It's nice to meet you, Rayne. This is my sister, Lightening."

Rayne looked between the two. They looked nothing alike. She nodded her head toward Lightening. The woman gave her a small nod in return and looked at Snow.

"I'm not your sister, so don't tell her that."

Rayne didn't understand what was going on between these two, but she decided it wasn't her place to get involved. Snow encouraged her to take a seat by the bed, but she stayed where she was.

"Are you a friend of Hope's?" Snow asked, conversationally.

Rayne shook her head.

"Not really, but I've known him for a long time."

"Okay, okay. Well, the more l'Cie the better, right? If you stick with us, I'll make sure you're not hung in public like the rest of them."

Rayne stared at him in surprise.

"Really?"

Lightening gave Snow a stern look.

"Don't make such reckless promises. You just met her and now you're putting her life in your hands. You can't save everyone you meet."

"I can try."

Rayne looked between the two of them.

"What…exactly are you guys planning? To escape from public death?"

The two of them looked at her.

"We're taking down the Sanctum."

He said it so nonchalantly that Rayne was stunned.

"B-but…that's…"

She half expected Lightening to disagree, but she didn't. Rayne looked at the other two before standing up straight.

"I don't know either of you, or Fang, but please let me go with you."

Lightening and Snow watched as she bowed to both of them as she asked.

"I can't stay here and I have nowhere to go. It is only a matter of time before they hunt me down. But if you guys are going somewhere and there is a chance of surviving…please let me go with you. I can fight and I'm not afraid."

Rayne stood up and looked Lightening straight in the eyes. She had a feeling that this solemn young woman was the one she needed to impress. Lightening crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall.

"Of course you're afraid. We all are. But if you're willing to come and fight, then I won't stop you."

Snow smiled at her and winked.

"Welcome to the team. Can you handle being with Hope since you both aren't friends, though?"

"Uh…huh."

Rayne's confidence wavered at the comment, but she felt she needed to agree.

"Alright then, I'm sure Fang will be more than happy to bring you along with us."

Fang, who had apparently been listening at the door, smiled and put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"You bet."


	2. Chapter 2

They all turned as Hope came into the room. His eyes instantly fell on Rayne, but he pulled his gaze away to look over at Lightening and Snow.

"My dad said he'd like to see you guys. He wants to talk."

Snow sat up in his position on the bed, somewhat painfully from the injury he had gotten. The two nodded. Hope, Fang, and Rayne left the room and Lightening grabbed Snow's trench coat for him. The three stood in the hallway waiting. Hope and Rayne stood in awkward silence. Fang watched the two of them with some amusement.

"So what happened between you two? Unrequited love?"

"Not even close!"

"No way!"

The two had protested in unison. Looking at each other, they both fell silent again. Hope moved off toward the living room, leaving Fang and Rayne to wait for the others. Rayne kicked the carpet with the toe of her purple shoes.

"It's not…exactly like that. You can't love someone when you're seven. It was just…"

Rayne's voice died and Fang put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Hey. I'm not going to pull it out of you. If you ever want to talk, I'll listen."

Snow and Lightening came out of the room at that moment. Snow dropped a hand onto Rayne's shoulder as if he'd known her forever. Rayne couldn't help but blush at the contact. She didn't understand why, but she had been impressed with his will to fight from what she'd seen on the screen and when he'd put a barrier between them and the mob of people. She also felt a pull from his friendly personality. Fang chuckled at the girl's complexion as they made their way into the living room and took seats. Hope was sitting beside his dad on the couch, so Rayne sat on Bartholomew's other side. Fang sat on the arm of a chair, Snow sat in the chair across from Bartholomew, and Lightening stood across from Fang by the only other empty chair in the room. It was quiet as they waited for someone to speak. The silence was broken as Snow got up out of his seat and knelt on the floor to bow to Bartholomew.

"The blame is mine. I couldn't save her."

Rayne wasn't sure about what had happened to this point, but she could only assume that he'd had a part to play in Nora Estheim's death. Bartholomew put a hand to his forehead and sighed as Hope looked between the two of them. His gaze rested on Snow.

"If it wasn't for Snow, I wouldn't be here right now."

His father looked up.

"Snow. Did Nora…Did she say anything to you?"

Snow looked up from his position on the floor.

"Hope. She said to…to get him home."

Bartholomew looked at his son who nodded.

"And that's exactly what you've done."

Snow looked up in surprise at the forgiveness. An obvious weight lifted off of the group in the room and a few even smiled. Lightening even sat down in relaxation. Hope's father continued.

"Face to face like this, it's hard to believe you're all dangerous fugitives. But the entire world is scared to death of you l'Cie. No, not even just you. People who've helped you, bumped into you…Sometimes it's even just people who've walked by one of you. They think they're "tainted" and want every one of them Purged."

Snow suddenly kneeled up.

"The Sanctum's a puppet of the fal'Cie!" he shouted," To them, our lives don't mean anything at all. We'll stop this. Take down the Sanctum, _and_ save Cocoon."

"You've thought that through?" Bartholomew asked.

Snow lost a bit of his momentum.

"If l'Cie take down the Sanctum, fear of Pulse will only get worse. It won't stop at fear. People will take up arms and stand against you. Can you imagine it? The rampant violence?"

Rayne sighed. People were so afraid of them. She put a hand to her chest, remembering all the pain she'd gone through for being a l'Cie.

"When the government's control is gone, the citizens will revolt," Lightening added.

Fang stood up.

"So, what then? We're supposed to just smile and eat a bullet? That means you, too."

Bartholomew gave an unamused laugh.

"I know I'm part of this. I'm on your side of the fence. Harborer of l'Cie, and a public enemy."

"Coming here was a bad idea," Hope said.

Rayne agreed. She'd run straight here when she had nowhere else to go. She hadn't thought about how that would have affected Bartholomew. He put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"This is your home."

Hope smiled at him. Bartholomew turned and smiled at Rayne.

"And it was yours as well the moment your parents died, Rayne."

The young girl blushed as he ruffled her hair before getting up.

"We're all here. Let's figure this out together."

Suddenly the lights began to flicker. They all jumped out of their seats and looked around. Lightening seemed to be listening for something. Rayne had instantly put her hand to her hip, her fingers curling around her whip. Lightening suddenly looked to the ceiling.

"Heads up!"

The glass roof shattered as gas grenades were dropped into the room. They scattered, coughing as the gas reached their lungs.

"Hope! Rayne! In the back!" Snow shouted, but he fell to the ground from pain.

Hope grabbed his father and pulled him over to where Snow was. He knelt down by Snow.

"You're not ready for this," he said," I'll stay here."

Rayne couldn't listen anymore as PSICOM soldiers dropped into the living room. She and the other girls began kicking and punching them away. Hope joined them shortly. The four of them grouped together and fought all the soldiers who dared come into the house. The windows to the house were completely shattered and the four of them hid behind a wall as Snow and Bartholomew peeked out of the room they had been hiding in to check on how things were going. Suddenly, a light from an airship shined into the room. PSICOM was re-grouping and surrounding the house again.

"Who ordered the battalion?" Fang asked, slightly annoyed.

"They'll take out the whole building next," Lightening said.

"How do you know that?" Rayne looked at her in surprise.

"I was once a member of the guard. Didn't you notice from the outfit?"

Rayne went silent as Lightening motioned for Snow and Bartholomew to come over by them.

"Dad!" Hope said, running over to his father.

"Hope! Thank goodness. Are you hurt?"

"No. How about you?"

"Still in one piece."

Snow gave out on the floor, leaning on Rayne for a little support. She was kneeling on the ground beside Fang, who was standing, and Lightening was kneeling on Fang's other side, keeping an eye on the enemy. Bartholomew looked over at Rayne.

"Rayne?"

She smiled and nodded.

"No problems."

Snow crawled over to look at the enemies outside.

"My turn," he muttered.

He got up and the girls all moved out of his way. Taking off his coat, he stuck just that out so that the soldiers could see it. They instantly began shooting.

"Snow," Lightening said in concern.

He held her back with his other arm.

"Don't shoot!" he shouted to PSICOM," I'll show you what a l'Cie looks like."

They stopped shooting and he stepped out in front of them, his hands held up to his ears. The guns were all trained on him, ready to shoot him when they had the order. Snow stepped through one of the broken windows and faced all of them. Rayne was astounded that he could be that brave.

"Me! I'm a l'Cie! Surprised? Expected some kinda monster? I'm flesh and blood like you! An ordinary citizen of Cocoon! Don't you get it? This has been our home our whole lives! How could we even think about destroying it? We want to protect this place just as much as you!"

The soldiers began talking amongst themselves, unsure of what to do.

"You must be Snow Villiers."

A man in a long black coat and wearing a black outfit stepped forward. His hair was silver and he had a cold expression.

"Yaag Rosch, PSICOM division. I understand your plight. However, the Pulse threat is not so easily dismissed. The very existence of you l'Cie puts every last one of us in danger. Tell me, do you really think your life is worth more than the lives of millions of Cocoon citizens? I do not. And so it falls to me to order your execution. It's that simple. It is my responsibility to see you put down. Your lives are forfeit."

Rosch turned and began walking back toward his ship.

"Aw, cut the crap!" Snow shouted," You want l'Cie, then kill l'Cie! Why do other people have to die? The Purge has got to stop!"

The man stopped and turned back to Snow.

"Do you think we want to Purge our own people? If any trace of Pulse remains, the populace will erupt into chaos. Without sacrifice, without the Purge, Cocoon will die!"

Suddenly, smoke grenades were thrown between Rosch and Snow. The soldiers all looked around in confusion.

"Who fired?" Rosch demanded," I gave no order!"

There was a sudden explosion from behind Rosch's group. Shooting started and grenades were dropped, taking out soldier after soldier. No one could see anything that was going on. There was a shout that sounded like Rosch, but no one could be sure.

"We're leaving!" Lightening announced.

This was probably the only chance they would have to get out of there alive. Lightening turned to Hope.

"Hope! Tie up your dad. We threatened you and forced you to help us. Got it?"

His father tried to protest, but Hope stopped him.

"Do what she says! I can't let you get dragged into this."

Fang and Rayne watched as his father listened and complied. Hope tied his father's hands behind his back.

"I want to stay here. But there's no place for a l'Cie. I'm going with the others. And I assume Rayne is as well."

Rayne was surprised that he mentioned her, but she nodded at Bartholomew who gave both of them a saddened look.

"We'll survive somehow," he told his father," I promise you that. Dad. I hate to run out on you-"

"You're not running! This is not running away. You've made a choice. You and Rayne both. You'll survive, and do what needs to be done."

"You mean complete my Focus?"

"Don't you worry about that! You make the choice."

Hope gave his dad one last hug.

"Thanks, Dad."

The group ran out to where Snow was. An enemy airship had just come in before them.

"Our turn, Hero," Lightening told Snow," Rayne, let us handle this and you keep Snow out of the fight."

"What? I can handle a little gas," Snow complained.

Hope stepped in front of his friend.

"Catch your breath! I'll throw in some hits for you."

Snow began coughing till he was on his knees. Rayne stayed by him.

"They're good fighters. This'll be over quickly," she reassured him.

"Yeah, I know."

They took out the airship in no time, like she said. Another airship floated up as the other one fell, ready to attack.

"Again? There's no end to these guys!" Fang complained.

Suddenly, a laser beam went through the airship, taking it down instantly. They readied themselves for another battle as a new airship took its place and a few soldiers came off the ship.

"Heya, Fang," one of the soldiers said, walking up to them casually with his gun hung over his shoulder.

The soldier took off his helmet and laughed.

"Need a ride?"

They all stood down.

"Don't get cute," Fang responded with a smile," Right, let's move it."


	3. Chapter 3

They all boarded the airship gratefully. The man introduced himself as Rygdea and showed them all to rooms on the ship. Fang let Lightening share her room, Snow got a room to himself, and Hope and Rayne were put in a room together. Rygdea decided that kids should stick together, apparently not noticing that the two of them hadn't spoken a word to each other. It was awkward for the two of them to be stuck in the room together. Neither of them knew what to say. Hope kept looking at Rayne, but she wore an expression of severe hurt. He didn't blame her, either. He'd been horrible to her. Luckily for him, she spoke first.

"What happened to your mom?"

Hope looked down at his hands.

"We were Purged, but Snow's group called NORA rescued us. Mom went with Snow to help fight so that we could leave the city. She…ended up dying. She fell when a bridge was blasted apart. Snow tried to hold onto her, but he couldn't and he fell with her. But she didn't make it."

The two were quiet for a moment.

"I'm sorry," Rayne said, "So…how are you…?"

"A l'Cie? I went after Snow so I could talk to him about killing my mom. I thought it was his fault for a long time. A friend named Vanille went with me. Snow and Lightening were trying to save Lightening's sister Serah who is Snow's fiancée. When we all met up, we watched her turn to crystal after telling Snow and Lightening to save Cocoon. They then went on to attack Anima the fal'Cie. It then made all of us l'Cie with the same Focus. I was…distraught to say the least."

Rayne could imagine how hopeless Hope must've been at that time. Hope had always been like everyone else, thinking l'Cie were monsters that needed to be destroyed. She felt bad for feeling somewhat content with the irony of it all. She got up and headed for the door.

"Rayne, where are you going?"

"I can't stay here with you for longer than this. It's too hard."

"But, Rayne, I'm-"

"DON'T!

Rayne turned to him. Her eyes burned with pain and anger.

"Don't apologize to me. You think that's enough? You were the first person I went to and you…ugh. Just shut up."

With a sigh, she left the room and stalked down the metal hallway. She walked for a long time, not knowing where she was going at all. When she felt she couldn't walk anymore, she sat down and rubbed her temples. She didn't want to yell at him, she'd just done it instinctually.

"Damn, emotions," she mumbled, sitting up straight and tilting her head till she was staring at the ceiling.

"I hear ya."

Rayne looked over to see Fang smiling down at her. She gave the older woman a small grin in return as she sat beside her on floor.

"Yelled at him pretty good back there," Fang commented.

Rayne groaned.

"I was that loud?"

"Don't worry. I think I was the only one in the hallway at the time. You dashed right past me without noticing."

Rayne gave her a guilty look.

"I apologize."

"Ah, don't worry about it. At least now I understand how deep the argument between our youngest group members goes."

Rayne looked over at Fang. The woman had a very comforting presence, at least for the young girl. Fang was the type of woman she felt she wanted to grow up to be. She felt she could confide in her.

"I was made a l'Cie when I was seven years old. I don't know why. It was like the fal'Cie were preparing…planning for something. My vision for my Focus consisted only of the words "SEVEN YEARS". My parents just made sure to keep me in shirts that covered the brand on my shoulder. They protected me and loved me despite the population's majority believing that we l'Cie are monsters. I don't remember a time when I didn't know Hope and his parents. Our father's were old school friends and were always very close. Hope and I spent a lot of our childhood together. I trusted Hope. He was my best friend. I made the mistake of telling him I was a l'Cie because I thought that no matter what, he'd still be my friend. But the moment I did…he wanted nothing to do with me. He never spoke to me again. He didn't tell anyone, at least. I asked him not to. He didn't even tell his parents. We still lived in the same hometown and he was forced to be around me as we attended the same school. I was hurt, though. I can remember the way he'd look at me. As if I weren't human. For years, our classmates thought he was just being a jerk, but one day when we were ten, our class was playing a game. I was accidentally bumped into and I fell into a thorn bush. It cut the sleeve of my shirt and someone noticed the brand. It was white at the time, since I had to wait seven years for my Focus to begin, but the teacher came over and looked at it. I remember standing in front of people who I thought were friends. Faces that had once smiled at me, loved me, told me that we'd be friends forever…The expressions were now of hate, disappointment, and fear. I ran away. My parents secretly moved us to another house in Palumpolum so that no one knew where to find us. Nora and Bartholomew Estheim didn't stop liking me. They helped my family keep me at home and I went through homeschooling. It was a lonely four years. Then one day…the Purge started and my parents were Purged. Killed because their daughter is a l'Cie. My brand turned black not too long ago and I had a strange vision. It resembled…Ragnarok from the old story of the fight between Pulse and Cocoon. It made no sense, so I've just been hanging around…trying to find somewhere to belong."

Fang put an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"You belong with us. Sounds as if you're supposed to be with us. You have the same Focus as the others in our little group of rebels. And I know it's hard, but maybe you can find it in yourself to forgive Hope. He's stubborn, but he comes around eventually. I think he understands how you felt now. Give him a chance or don't. It's up to you, though."

With a last smile, Fang got up and began walking somewhere. Rayne sat in the hallway for a little while longer. Eventually, she got up and made her way back to the room. Hope wasn't there anymore, which eased her nerves enough for her to climb into bed and fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Rayne twirled around in her little pink dress. It was her seventh birthday party and her parents had decided it would be a small party with just the Estheim family in attendance. After eating cake and opening presents, Hope and Rayne had gone into the yard to play. The young girl smiled at Hope who was gathering grass in his hand before letting the blades fly away in the wind. She spun around and around, letting her surroundings turn into a blur.

"See? I'm a princess! Mommy said so."

She pointed to her tiara and continued twirling happily. She eventually made herself dizzy, so she flopped down onto the ground as the world spun around her. Hope sat down next to her. He was giving her a thoughtful expression.

"Then I'm a prince!" he announced.

"No, you're not."

"Yes! If I'm a prince, then I can marry you. So there."

The look on Hope's face showed that proposing to her was a natural statement. Rayne stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"That isn't how you propose! It has to be romantic!"

"Romantic?" Hope asked, clumsily climbing to his feet," How do you do that?"

Rayne shrugged.

"It's what all those big girl stories talk about. And I heard my mommy say that it was really romantic when daddy proposed to her. Uh huh! Besides, if you were only a commoner I'd still marry you no matter what you were."

Hope smiled happily at her last statement before getting a mischievous look on his face.

"Wellll, what if I was a dog?"

He pretended he was a dog by getting onto his hands and knees and began barking at her. Rayne giggled and pet the top of his head.

"Yep!"

"How about…the Primarch?"

"Ewww, that wouldn't be you, you're too young and he's all old and ugly!"

"Okay…how about…a l'Cie?"

Rayne thought for a moment before looking at Hope.

"Yep, I'd still marry you."

Hope shook his head at her.

"Nuh-uh. They're big scary monsters and they want to kill everyone on Cocoon. You'd marry a monster?"

"If it was you," Rayne said, stomping her foot," And they don't look like monsters. You wouldn't marry me if I were a l'Cie?"

"No way!"

"Well, then you're just a big meany!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-huh."

The argument went on for awhile until the two got distracted by a butterfly that joined them in the yard. It was only three months later in the same garden that Rayne had confided in Hope that she was a l'Cie. He had pushed her to the ground before running off saying "I hate you" with finality.

The sound of Hope waking up the next morning took Rayne out of her memories. She buried her face in her pillow, as tears had been falling down her cheeks. She heard Hope roll out of bed, pause, and then pull on his jacket and shoes. Rayne sniffled into her pillow, trying to pass it off for being in her sleep, but he heard Hope stop and assumed that he looked over at her bed. She peeked slightly at him.

"Rayne?" his voice called out softly.

She didn't respond, her body completely rigid. She heard him sigh; tying up his scarf, before he finished. Burying her head in the pillow she heard him move and the door opened and clicked shut. The young girl groaned and turned over. She froze as she spotted Hope watching her from beside the door. He'd tricked her. Rayne sat up, brushing her tears roughly.

"Hope!"

"I knew you were up and crying," the teenager commented, giving her a scolding look.

He didn't move, probably knowing that if he did, Rayne would do anything to get away. Falling back onto the bed, she covered her head with the blanket, seething.

"Leave me alone," she growled, just loud enough for him to hear.

She heard him move again, this time back to her bed, where he sat at the end.

"Rayne, please listen. I have to say this, okay? If I don't and we just stay this way, being around each other is going to be harder than the situation already is. First, I'm sorry. The way I treated you when we were kids was terrible and…I ruined whatever faith you had in me. I know that. Becoming a l'Cie was really hard for me to accept, but once I was able to…I knew I was wrong. I treated you like you were a monster and that wasn't right. I hadn't accepted who I had become when I first saw you in Palumpolum, but…I felt relieved to see you. Even though I had been mean…and harsh…there was this feeling of being _home_ when I saw you. I never stopped caring about you, I couldn't do that; you were my best friend. I didn't leave you, really, until the public knew of your brand, that is. I can't make up for it…but I can try. And you don't have to forgive me, but…I don't want you to hate me because…I don't hate you, Rayne. I don't think I ever did…I just thought I was supposed to. Maybe you understand that?"

Her breathing had gotten softer as she listened to him talk. When the room went silent, Hope looked over at her at the sound of the blankets shifting. Rayne sat up, playing with the edge of the blanket that was now in her lap. Her expression was so sad.

"I can't just forget how you treated me. Honestly, I want to say I don't forgive you, but I understand…We're trained to hate l'Cie. It is a sad and horrible truth and I wish that people would just-"

She cut off with a heavy sigh before looking up into Hope's eyes.

"I never hated you for hating me. For the longest time, I just wanted back what we had…but…it's been too long now. I won't avoid you. I can't avoid you. But…just know…you _really _hurt me and I am not about to forget that."

Her eyes were so intense that Hope had to look away for a moment. Getting up, he rubbed his hands on the sides of his pants. Looking back, he watched as she got up. She moved over to a closet that was full of random clothes.

"Then…I guess we just…move on from here?" Hope asked as she rummaged in the closet.

"I guess so…"

She pulled out a purple outfit, which Hope expected as it was her favorite color. It was slightly different from her previous outfit, though. Stepping out of the room, he waited outside for her. When she stepped out, Hope was astounded by the difference. She still wore a sleeveless shirt, but this shirt's neckline dropped, showing off the purple rose necklace she liked to wear. The edge of the collar was trimmed with white fabric. The shirt split at her stomach like Lightning's did, except the split was held together by white criss-crossing strings. She still wore her gloves and boots, which went up above her knees and laced all the way up to the knee from her ankles. She had picked out a rather short, pleated purple skirt with a white belt. Hope wondered to himself why most of the females he had been around lately liked short skirts, but he did not ponder on the thought. She did not speak, but she followed as he moved off toward the airship docking bay. They met up with the others who were talking with Rygdea and Cid Raines. He was the man in charge of the ship and a leader in the Guardian Corps. Snow spotted them first and winked at them.

"You two doing okay? Didn't kill each other in the middle of the night?"

Hope just shrugged and Rayne glanced over at Fang who nodded at her with a knowing smile.

"What's going on?" Rayne asked as a screen beside them flipped on.

Lightning put her hands on her hips and scoffed.

"Announcement about capture l'Cie."

The young girl frowned.

"There are more than us out there?"

"Just two," Hope answered," Remember I mentioned a girl named Vanille? She is one of them. The other is a man named Sazh. We travelled together for awhile before we split up. Apparently, they were caught."

They turned their attention to the screen and watched as a video of an airship came up.

"There she is. The _Palamecia_, pride of the Sanctum Skyfleet! This mighty flagship currently serves as a prison for the l'Cie apprehended in Nautilus. The l'Cie will face official sentencing upon the convoy's arrival in the capital."

Snow's hand clenched into a fist.

"So what's with the freak show?"

Raines didn't even bother turning to look at Snow, but kept his eyes trained on the screen.

"So the Primarch can stand in judgment of the villainous l'Cie…with their execution as the climax. The people will cheer their demise, and fal'Cie dominion will be undisputed."

Lightning crossed her arms.

"All part of the plan?"

"Yes," replied Raines," but it also presents an opportunity."

The reporter got their attention again as she started up again.

"In an display of unwavering dedication to duty the Primarch himself has boarded the _Palamecia_ and focused his personal attention on resolving the Pulse crisis."

Rayne glanced around and caught Fang shake her head.

"They're baiting us. Trying to draw us out."

"Bait, huh?" Snow asked.

Lightning stepped forward and turned to all of them.

"Yeah, that's right: 'Here are your friends. Come and get 'em.'"

Snow grinned and sauntered forward.

"Well, if they're daring us to mount a rescue…I'll take that action. All in."

Rygdea grinned.

"All righty, best are on the table. We'll leave when you're ready. I'll be standing by."

He marched off down the bay. The group looked around at each other before moving off after him. When they reached where he was, a light popped on above a PSICOM ship. Rygdea pointed at it.

"This baby back here's a PSICOM vessel. It'll deliver you to the _Palamecia_."

"Oh, we're cargo now?" Snow asked.

Rayne couldn't help but giggle at the thought, which got her a light punch in the shoulder from the older male. Rydea just grinned.

"A parting gift to our rotting government. Take those PSICOM guys apart."

Lightning's hands were on her hips now.

"And we're supposed to take on all of them? I think the whole division's on board."

Fang stepped up next, a determined look on her face.

"I don't care how many lackeys they've got. Bring 'em on! Vanille's in there."

Hope went over to her.

"I'm sure she's fine. Vanille's tougher than I could ever be."

Rayne felt a bit left out, not knowing either of the people they were going in to save, but she could tell that some connections and grown among the group. She glanced at Hope, wondering if he didn't have a bit of a thing for this girl named Vanille. Lightning turned to Hope while Rayne was still lost in thought.

"Hope, are you scared?"

"Yeah, I'm terrified. But I'll be okay. Because I have you, and this guy, and Fang."

Hope looked over at Rayne and caught her watching him.

"And I trust Rayne to look out for me as well. And I'll do the same. We're all in this mess. We've got to stick together."

Looking down, the younger girl felt a bit awkward by his comment, but she didn't say anything. She wasn't about to let him die though, that was for sure. Rygdea chuckled, suddenly.

"Right, enough with the bonding. It's go time."

He then led them all onto the ship, Rayne keeping close to Fang as Hope fell back with Snow.


	5. Chapter 5

They were on the _Palamecia_ in no time at all. As they marched their way to the entrance, they heard the intercom of the ship suddenly blasting a Code Red. A few PSICOM soldiers appeared to greet them. None of them were surprised. There was a never ending supply no matter how many they fought back.

"Looks like they want to play," Fang noted.

"No kidding," Snow added.

Rayne ran up beside Fang.

"So where to?"

Fang pointed up at the pillars on either side of the entrance to the inside of the ship.

"Right up there."

Rayne sighed.

"You're a radical thinker, aren't you?" the younger girl noted.

With a grin, Fang charged forward.

"Got that right."

After beating back some more soldiers they were able to climb up to the top of area. Rayne reached the top last. As she stepped up, she almost slipped off the side of the ship, but Hope grabbed her and pulled her back to safety. The two of them froze with Rayne looking up into his face with one of his hands on her arms and the other circling around to her back. They were so close they could hear the other breathing. Rayne pulled herself away with a blush. Neither of them said a word as they took off after the others. They were heading for a bridge even higher up. There were still a good amount of enemies, but they plowed through like it was nothing. Eventually, they were able to get inside the ship. With their entrance, the ship was now on a Code Green. They stopped at a corner as Snow peeked around. They were stunned as he suddenly shouted.

"Let us through! Block our way, you die!"

All the females groaned.

"You _trying_ to get 'em angry?" Fang asked.

"Thought maybe they'd run. There's been enough blood spilled."

Lightning shook her head.

"You thought they'd run? Let me refresh your memory. Those soldiers think they're protecting Cocoon from l'Cie. The fal'Cie have them all brainwashed."

Snow slammed a fist into the wall, startling the younger kids.

"Fal'Cie. I have had it! We cannot let this go on!"

The upset male charged around the corner, leaving the group only to follow him. It wasn't easy going, but they were doing okay. Rayne was having a bit of trouble keeping up. She wasn't used to fighting one group after another. After awhile, she collapsed on the side of the wall to catch her breath. Fang came up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"No time for rest yet. We've got to keep moving or we'll never reach them."

The girl's breaths were heavy.

"I'm sorry…I've…never done…this before. Ow!"

She put a hand to her chest as she tried to inhale more air than her lungs could take. She yelped as she was suddenly grabbed and slung onto someone's back piggy-back style. She looked down to meet Snow's black bandana.

"Snow?" she squeaked.

He chuckled.

"We're not going to leave you behind, so I'll just carry you for awhile. Let me know when you're good, alright?"

With a blush, she agreed. Fang just grinned at the girl. Hope only looked away and followed Lightning who had already started moving again. It was about then that the screens changed announcing a Code Purple. Rayne scoffed.

"How many codes do they have? Seriously…"

"All these colors, what's it mean?" Hope asked.

Fang looked around at them.

"Means we're doing our job. Making a lot of PSICOM guys nervous."

The ship seemed to shake a bit and guns could be heard from up ahead somewhere. Hope furrowed his eyebrows

"Who are they fighting?"

"Vanille," Fang noted, mostly talking to herself.

They continued going until reaching somewhere outside the ship. Metal panels moved in the wind and as they got closer, the wind began slow. Rayne slid easily off of Snow's back and stood beside him as everyone looked around.

"The wind—It's dying down," Hope noted curiously.

"Yeah, it's stopping," Lightning sighed," And _we're _decelerating. They up to something?"

Snow rubbed the back of his head.

"I don't suppose it could just be—I don't know—good luck?"

A strange hissing sound caused the group to squint at the area before them. Monsters were being brought up to bar their way.

"That looks a lot more like bad luck," Fang pointed out.

"You've got a point," Snow sighed.

Lightning stepped forward and looked back at them.

"Not to me. That? That, we can do something about."

Once again, they plowed through. Once they were past most of the monsters, Rayne growled and cracked her whip.

"This thing is so inefficient. All it does is keep things at bay."

Lightning was about to speak but they heard a loud screeching sound. Looking up, a large flying monster that was bright yellow came rumbling through the sky. It stopped and screamed at them. Their weapons were poised and ready in an instant. Fang took a low stance from the front of the party.

"So, Light…How do you figure this makes us lucky?"

"Because when we kill it, we're one step closer to Vanille. How's that?"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

It was died with little effort and slid down the side of the ship and out of sight. Yet a second one came flying up in replacement. Snow sighed.

"One big, fat stroke of luck after another. I'm so happy I could cry."

The group ducked as it zoomed past right above their heads. It seemed to be going away, which seemed to bother Fang and Snow a bit.

"Tease us, will ya?" Fang taunted.

"Come down here!" Snow added.

Rayne furrowed her eyebrows.

"Wouldn't it be lucky if it _left_?"

There was suddenly a blast off to their left. Looking over, there was a smoking hole now in the ship. Rayne was exceptionally confused as a baby chocobo went flying out of the hole and chirped at them. Right behind it was a girl barely older than her and Hope and a dark-skinned older man with an afro. The girl was wearing pink that went well with her pinkish red hair. She had on a short skirt and belly showing top. She carried a Binding Rod on her. The man wore a mostly cream outfit with a green jacket and Dual Guns strapped to him. As they came forward, Fang put away her staff.

"Vanille!"

It then registered to Rayne that these were the l'Cie they had been trying to rescue. They had partially been able to rescue themselves. It was kind of ironic.

"Fang!"

The two ran to each other but before they could say anything, the flying creature was back. It was another easy going, especially with two added fighters. Fang then turned and ran to Vanille and hugged her. The younger of the two began to cry. It was awkward for the males, who all turned away, as Fang bent down and lifted Vanille's skirt to check her thigh. Rayne was able to spot the mark of a l'Cie there.

"You've still got time," Fang sad with relief.

"Fang, there's-there's something I need to tell you," Vanille started, worry making her voice shake.

Ignoring the girl's words, Fang hugged her again. She went on talking quietly to Vanille as Snow brought attention to a sad look in Sazh's face.

"What's wrong?" the blonde asked.

"Oh…uh, nothing! It's nothing! Uh-so? Who is this young lady? What's on the agenda?"

Snow ruffled Rayne's hair making her protest.

"This is Rayne Neirien, childhood friend of Hope's. She's one of us. And we're toppling the Sanctum."

"No, I mean really…"

Lightning stepped forward.

"He's serious. We're gonna take down the Sanctum and give Cocoon back to the people. The fal'Cie have called the shots for long enough."

"If we pull this off, it'll be a miracle," Hope murmured just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Fang rapped her staff on the top of the ship.

"Well, good thing Lady Luck's on our side."

She seemed to have spoken too soon. A bunch of flying monsters passed over their heads. They were different from the other creatures. These were white with colorful wings. Sazh groaned.

"More of 'em?"

"You know, this is getting really old," Snow complained.

Fang laughed.

"Check this out. A miracle-Gran Pulse style!"

Everyone looked at her like she was nuts and she and Vanille rushed to the edge of the ship.

"Vanille, go fish!"

"Got it."

The younger girl tossed out her Binding Rod after one of the flyers as Fang leaped into the air. Fang dropped down on the creature, stabbing her staff into it. She then turned to the others.

"All right!"

"Let's get on!" Vanille prompted.

With small hesitation, the group moved to get on the taken down monster. Hope jumped on the neck of the creature with Vanille right behind him. Rayne suddenly wondered if there was something going on between the two of them, but it was none of her business. She hopped on behind Lightning who had seated herself behind where Fang was standing. Snow sat behind Rayne as Sazh grabbed one of the spikes on its back. As it took off, Sazh lost his foot and was hanging on as tight as he could to the spike. As they flew along beside the ship, Fang grinned.

"Believe in Lady Luck now?"

"Yeah-Lady _Bad_ Luck!"

Rayne giggled as they got closer to the ship.

"Time to purge a Primarch!" Snow shouted, punching his own hand.

"You got it!" Fang agreed.

They sped up, dodging a barrage of missiles that targeted them as they got closer to where the Primarch was located. When they were over the ship, Lightning shouted to them.

"JUMP!"

They all did so on her command, plunging into a hole that had just been rent into the ship.


	6. Chapter 6

Rayne heard the others groaning as they got up. She had landed on top of Sazh, who had cushioned the blow, but her shoulder still hurt from partially hitting the ground. Sitting up, she apologized to the older man who just waved it off.

"We're alive, that's the good part," was his response.

As she stumbled to her feet, Sazh got up and pulled Hope off of his back. Lightning was already looking around. Rayne decided to do that herself. The section of the ship they were in consisted of multiple platforms, all disconnected. Mechanisms alerted her to fact that their usage would make bridges across the platforms. At the far end of the room was grand doorway, the regal red and gold wall was rather garish to the young girl.

"Dysley's through there," Lightning noted.

Rayne scoffed.

"That doorway is like an invitation. "Here's the Primarch, come and get him!" It's sickening."

Lightning clicked her tongue against her teeth in disgust, obvious agreement. Sazh moved over to the mechanical pad, causing a bridge to extend. Waiting on the next platform were more soldiers.

"Wait a second," Vanille said, running up to Rayne.

The dark haired girl looked at her in confusion. She was suddenly presented with two small knives. The hilts of each of them curved in the same direction as the blade. Rayne looked up at Vanille in surprise.

"Sai knives?"

"Mmhm! Found them in the weapon hold when Sazh and I broke out. Thought you might like them better than your whip. And here!"

She pulled a belt, specially made for holding the knives, off of her waist.

"This came with it!"

Her smile was so bright that Rayne couldn't help but give a small smile back.

"Thank you…"

Snow, being nosy, went over to look at the knives.

"Do you know how to use them?"

The young girl turned with a smirk after putting the belt on. She pulled the knives from the loops on the back of the belt and twirled them in her fingers. She turned swiftly before stopping the knives just inches away from Snow's heart.

"What do you think?"

Snow laughed and put his hands up in surrender. Hope looked at her with a sullen expression.

"Your mother worked in the weapons department of Palumpolum's local government. That's why you know how to use those?"

The smirk on Rayne's face dropped and she put away the knives. She stared down at the ground.

"Yeah…"

There was a small hesitation before Lightning moved forward across the bridge.

"Let's get going."

The group plowed their way through soldiers, opening bridges to each platform as they went. By the time they reached the door leading to the Primarch, Rayne was breathing hard.

"They just keep coming!" she noted, seeing more flooding onto the platforms.

Snow slammed his fist into his hand.

"Let's end this now, shall we?"

The others nodded at him and they moved through the door. Running in, they found themselves in a large chamber that was brighter than the rest of the ship. The Primarch sat in a chair up above them. Standing beside his chair was a woman with long brown hair. She smirked as they came in. Sazh evidently knew her as he shouted at her.

"Been looking for you, Nabaat!"

They ran down the ramp to the base of the area. The woman, Nabaat, easily jumped from the platform where the Primarch sat and faced the group. Sazh, having come to the front of the gang, pointed his gun at her. She reached around to grab a weapon as she addressed the Primarch, telling him to escape. There was a hesitation before the Primarch spoke.

"Why don't you leave, Jihl?" he stated, simply," Or rather, take your leave. Humans have no business here."

Nabaat looked up in surprise.

"What? Your Eminence-"

She was cut short as magic from the Primarch's staff cut her down. The group looked up in shock as the Primarch rose from his seat and floated into the air. Magic once again from his staff struck out and hit all the people at the ship's controls. He then made the glass cover above disappear. Snow shouted at him.

"Dysley! Monster! People are not yours to use!"

The Primarch floated down to their level, a sick smirk on his face.

"What else does one do with tools?"

Snow ran forward in an attempt to punch the man, only to be flung back by an invisible force field surrounding him. Hope knelt down to check the older male. Dysley continued on.

"Cocoon is a factory, built by fal'Cie. A factory for the mass production of human thralls."

Snow groaned as he got up.

"Not anymore, its not! "

"What can mere men do? Without our help, death is all of which you are capable. You saw the fools. A mindless mob drunk on fear of a few l'Cie."

Lightning strode forward, sword ready.

"If only they knew a l'Cie was the one filling their glasses!"

Dysley smirked.

"L'Cie?"

He began laughing.

"You mean me? Oh child, perish the thought. I am more than that!"

Rising off the ground again, a silver owl flew toward him before he was surrounded in a bright white light.

"I am fal'Cie," a stranger voice responded," My name is Barthandelus. Voice of the Sanctum, and Lord-Soverign of the Cocoon fal'Cie."

When the light faded, they were presented with a huge fal'Cie with claws and a large, creepy face. The group backed away in shock and fear. Fang held her arms out to keep both Vanille and Rayne back.

"Your kind feared the darkness, so we gave you light. You begged us for the Purge, and did it not come to pass? Now you spurn our counsel? You must learn your place!"

They all took out their weapons and attacked. Barthandelus was difficult, but eventually he shook violently, unable to attack anymore. He then faded into transparency. Snow growled, lowering his fists.

"A fal'Cie running the Sanctum..."

Hope looked around at everyone.

"Then...I guess it wasn't Eden controlling things after all."

Rayne was about to say something, but the ground beneath them shook.

"As I said," Dysley's voice pervaded the air," I am Lord-Sovereign."

They all braced themselves.

"Guess fal'Cie don't go down as easy as the rest of us," Sazh scowled.

Dysley appeared before them and lowered himself to the floor.

"Ease is not the issue. You have not fought to win. You should know quite well already the sure way of dispatching our kind. Ragnarok."

All those from Cocoon were astounded, while Fang just narrowed her eyes.

"What's Ragnarok?"

She suddenly shouted as her brand appeared to burn against her shoulder. Dysley continued, pointing at all of them.

"Pitiful l'Cie, you've forgotten your Focus. Ragnarok is the beast once of you must become in order to lay waste to Cocoon. You have had the dream. One among you will become that monstrosity, defeat Orphan, and destroy Cocoon."

Dysley teleported among them as he spoke. Rayne stepped back, cringing at the thought. The Focus came back to her mind. Just the idea of one of them becoming that creature...

"Orphan?" Lightning questioned.

"The font of Eden's power," was the Primarch's answer. Orphan fuels Eden with strength, and Eden in turn sustains you and the rest of our kind. Destroy Orphan, and you'll release a force such as this world has never seen. Cocoon will be torn asunder."

Fang stood straight, pain still going through her brand.

"So if I did that...Destroyed Orphan..."

The Primarch teleported in front of her.

"Your Focus would be fulfilled."

Lightning slashed at him, only to miss.

"So what? Who says it has to be?"

Snow held up a blue tear shaped crystal. Rayne didn't know what it was for, but she gathered it had something to do with Serah based off of what he said.

"Serah asked us to save Cocoon before she turned to crystal. Save it. And that's what we're gonna do! Serah was trying to tell us how to complete our Focus, and we have-"

He was cut short as the fal'Cie laughed.

"Allow me to help you see the truth of things. The moment you arrived, your friend wept crystal tears. This was because her Focus required that you be brought together. That girl did nothing but assemble the tools for Cocoon's destruction."

These words seemed to wound Snow deeply.

"Did it never occur to you? Or did you simply refuse to countenance the thought?"

They were suddenly shook as the ship rumbled. The bird appeared again and transformed into an airship

"If you will not face the truth, then face the peril of your plight. Run, l'Cie! See how stark reality is!"

The Primarch disappeared as he spoke. The ship rocked even more violently, knocking a few of them over. The airship was evidently going to go down. Lightning was the first to recover.

"Come on!" she shouted.

They all followed her onto the new ship. Once they were all on board, the _Palamecia_ exploded, sending them flying. Sazh was at the controls, trying his best to steer.

"This is bad!" he told them," The yoke is jammed!"

Snow slammed a fist into the pilot seat.

"I knew it was a trap!"

Snow, Lightning, and Rayne were the only ones standing, though that was incredibly hard to do.

"Something's coming!" Hope alerted them from his seat behind Vanille.

Looking up, they saw a battle ship zooming toward them. Missiles sailed toward them.

"Hang on!" Snow warned as missiles began exploding around them.

The ship appeared to move on its own. Dodging and shooting back at those trying to take it down. Sazh stared at the controls in wonder.

"What kind of ship is this? Fighting on its own?"

Rayne didn't hear anything that was said as she lost her grip on the pilot seat. She would have tumbled to the back of the ship, injuring herself if Snow hadn't thrown out his left hand and grabbed her arm.

"Hope!" Snow yelled," Hang onto her!"

"What?!" was all Rayne could say before Snow forcefully pushed her toward Hope.

The two teenagers yelped as the female landed on the boy, but Hope's right arm instantly encircled her waist. Rayne was about to protest as they had reached a potential safe place, leaving the attacker behind, but she saw them heading straight for a building.

"Sazh, look out!" Vanille screamed.

Rayne turned her face into Hope's shoulder as they all tensed for impact. Instead, the appeared to teleport. Next they knew, they were docked in a strange underground bunker of some sort. They were all quiet as they looked around. Lightning stood up straight and walked to the exit. Rayne hurriedly hopped off of Hope and followed. The others came quickly after them.


	7. Chapter 7

Stepping out of the ship, everyone looked around. Lightning voice the question that was in their heads.

"Where are we?"

Vanille stepped back as she looked around.

"It looks like a piece of Pulse."

Sazh raised his eyebrows at her.

"Pulse? What, you mean like the Bodhum Vestige? Something like that, this close to Eden..."

Fang pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, well, what I don't understand is, after the Purge, and all that l'Cie paranoia...why keep a chunk of Pulse under the floorboards?"

No one had a real answer to that. Hope looked down a tunnel.

"Is this what the Primarch wanted us to see?"

"A place for l'Cie to accept their fate," Lightning murmured, just loud enough for all to hear.

Rayne looked back at the eldest members of the group.

"Do you really think our Focus is what Dysley said it is?"

Vanille looked at the other girl solemnly.

"You mean, become Ragnarok."

"Destroy the fal'Cie Eden, and shatter Cocoon," Sazh added," That's what the vision's telling us, more or less. So we're back to square one. Out of luck."

During that whole exchange, Snow had been oddly quiet, something that Vanille wouldn't have.

"Mr. Hero! Cocoon calling Snow!"

She looked insulted as he didn't respond at all. Rayne stared at the blonde male, a frown on her face. She didn't like seeing someone she had faith in losing their confidence. It angered her. She glanced over as Hope spoke.

"It's almost like Dysley wants it to come true."

"Seems that way," Sazh shrugged," He sure didn't mind explaining it. 'Here's your Focus on a silver platter'."

Rayne tuned out of the conversation. It didn't make sense. A Cocoon fal'Cie wanting the destruction of Cocoon. Of everything they had created. Why? For what purpose? The girl came out of her thoughts as the group began moving again. She glanced back at Snow, who only seemed to follow reluctantly.

"I really don't know who to trust in life, do I?" she mumbled to herself.

They continued on, fighting strange monsters every now and then. Rayne noticed how isolated she felt. Everyone knew it each other or had connected at one point or another, but here she was as the odd one out. She joined so she wouldn't die. Saving Cocoon sounded well and good, but now she had to potentially destroy it? With each terrible uncertainty welling inside her, her chest felt heavier and heavier, almost painful. She practically staggered into a huge room, which what looked like pillars in it with piping and tanks. The others were staring around at everything.

"I can't believe we're still in Cocoon," she heard Hope state.

Sazh agreed.

"It's kind of creepy."

They moved on a little farther before Vanille made an observation.

"This place-it must be an Ark."

"An Ark?" Lightning asked.

Fang turned and nodded.

"That's what they called 'em."

"Long ago, the fal'Cie who made their home on Gran Pulse were afraid of invasion from the outside," Vanille informed them," As part of their battle preparations, they created an army of living weapons. And they stored those weapons in Arks, and they hid the Arks all over the world."

"Everyone on Gran Pulse knew the legend, "Fang added.

"So," Lightning said," this is basically a Pulse armory."

Fang hummed in agreement.

"Most of us never believed in 'em. A few people tried searching, but they never found a thing. Who'd have thought to look on Cocoon."

Rayne groaned quietly to herself. It was all becoming too overwhelming. All these secrets the fal'Cie hid. Issues between Cocoon and Gran Pulse becoming so intense. Being a l'Cie and being stuck with Hope and an impossible Focus were driving her mad. She was brought back to the conversation as Vanielle's voice cut through her thoughts.

"The story's not done!"

Fang continued.

"They used to say the Arks had a more practical purpose."

Lightning's eyebrows went up.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, to force l'Cie to master their shiny new powers."

Again Rayne's attention faded. No. Now they were just weapons to be honed. That was okay? A weapon is a weapon. It does damage. Who was to say just because they didn't want to destroy Cocoon that they wouldn't end up doing it anyway? Killing people...destroying families...ripping parents from children. The chamber shook as the pillars opened, releasing a few monsters they had run into before. Following as they moved on, Rayne's head swam with memories and ideas of possible futures. After only five more minutes on the move, she collapsed with pain, her chest hurting drastically. Hope heard her cry out and was the first to come over to her. He knelt down and grabbed her shoulders.

"Rayne! Are you okay?"

She looked up at him through eyes barely open. A mental image of a young Hope pushing her away came to her. She pushed him away as she stood up.

"Get away from me," she hissed," This is ridiculous. You all think you have a plan. What plan?! We're going to kill people. An entire population will be wiped out by one of us. It's our _Focus_! You can't change that! We're monsters and you all move along merrily ready to become stronger monsters. No! I won't hurt people. I won't tear apart families! Argh!"

The girl fell to her knees again, her chest glowing.

"Eidolon," Lightning warned.

There was a cry and a giant bird Eidolon appeared. Hope got to his feet as the group, including Rayne stared at it. It had wings and clawed feet. The girl stumbled back in shock as it struck a claw toward her. Hope caught her and moved in front of her.

"We won't hurt anyone, Rayne. You have to believe that."

Hope turned to her.

"You have to trust that. We won't tear apart families or kill anyone. We're not monsters. You..."

The young boy looked her straight in the eyes.

"You never were and never will be a monster. And I will do everything I can to prove that to you."

Fang moved forward.

"You have to trust us, kid," she smirked," like we trust you. Have some "Hope", yeah? Let's fight this thing."

The older woman winked at the girl. Rayne was still unsure. Hope grasped her hand, shocking her.

"Don't give up now! We need you, even if you don't think so, we do!"

Taking a deep sigh, Rayne pulled her knives from her belt.

"Alright."

With the help of Hope and Fang, they fended off the Eidolon. It was a strange and difficult fight, but in the end the Eidolon changed by wrapping around her and becoming a pair of metal wings before becoming a purple crystal and going back into her chest. Falling to her knees, she was only able to say one word.

"Valefor."

Tears began falling down her face and it was all she could do to bury her face in her hands. There was suddenly warmth around her as she was hugged. She opened her eyes to find herself being embraced by Vanille.

"You won't be a monster. I won't allow it! No one here will allow anyone else to be a monster. Okay?"

Rayne nodded and wiped her tears away. She turned to see Lightning and Snow grinning at her. Sazh nodded with a slight smile on his face. Fang ruffled her hair.

"You think too much, kid. Live a little."

Lightning and the others turned and began to move on. Rayne started to follow until a soft voice reached her ears. She turned to see Hope staring at his gloves.

"I didn't know...how hurt you were. I know that you had your family torn from you and that added to the problem a lot, but...I didn't know that when I called you a...I'm so sorry. I...actually don't deserve your trust. You had faith in me and I-"

Hope was cut off as Rayne wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. His cheeks and ears went red from her embrace. He was glad no one was looking back at them at the moment.

"Thank you. I trust you," Rayne whispered," So please don't let me down."

The boy's hands shook as he hugged her back.

"I won't," he said, definitively.

The two of them jumped as Vanille's cheery voice called back to them.

"Yoohoo! Lovebirds! Let's get going!"

Pulling apart quickly, Hope was pleased to see Rayne blushing. He was stunned as she gave him a smile he hadn't seen in years before she turned and ran after the others. Hope quickly followed, ingraining in his mind how much prettier she looked now with a true smile on her face.


	8. Chapter 8

Moving farther into the Arc they were astounded to run into someone familiar.

"Raines?" Snow asked, surprised.

"What?"

Fang didn't look very pleased to see him. Rayne felt somewhat suspicious as well. Vanille and Sazh looked ready to fight, but Snow turned to them and assured them to calm down. Snow turned to move toward the man, but Fang threw out an arm to stop him.

"Why are you here?" she asked, her tone sharp.

Rayne was stunned as Lightning rushed past her, her blade out.

"Raines! You traitor!"

As she attacked him he dodged. Turning back she swung again but he just deflected her blows before grabbing her and tossing her back toward the others. Her blade landed in his hand. Rayne ran over to Lightning to see if she was alright.

"I put you on the path. That was my Focus," Raines announced.

Everyone was surprised.

"You're a l'Cie?" Fang angrily accused.

"Since long before we met," he responded," I did my best to assist you, as bid by the Sanctum fal'Cie. Now do you understand? The fal'Cie have watched over you, guiding your every step. The 'luck' that saved you time and again was a deliberate machination. Why, you may ask? The Primarch-or should I say, Barthandelus- is crafting you into the instruments of Cocoon's demise."

"We've been played for fools," Fang muttered.

Rayne stood up and looked at Fang. This woman had become her role model, but now she was doubting. The young girl did her best not to fall into despair again. She frowned at Raines. Sazh stepped forward.

"A Cocoon fal'Cie? Why?"

"Why? To restore the Maker."

"The Maker?" Hope asked.

Raines looked over at him.

"The entity responsible for creating both humans and fal'Cie. Long ago, the Maker departed this world leaving these two races behind. In a sense, human and fal'Cie are brothers, orphaned by the same parent. As for the humans, they forgot the order imposed by the Maker. They began to war amongst themselves for the first time in history. The fal'Cie focused on recalling their lost deity and returning the world to its former glory. This purpose lies at the heart of all their actions. Calling back the Maker requires a fitting sacrifice."

Raines paused and looked at us. Lightning stood up, glaring.

"Yeah. We've heard. The destruction of Cocoon."

"The lives of this world's entire populous in bloody tribute," he answered, tossing her sword back at her.

The group did not want to hear this kind of response. Sazh shook his head, looking away from the man.

"No, that's crazy talk," he mumbled.

Hope looked up.

"I don't get it. Why do they need us? Can't the fal'Cie end Cocoon with just a thought?"

Raines shook his head.

"Their existence is bound to the creation and maintenance of this floating shell. It is their very nature that holds them in check."

Rayne glanced over at Hope as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"You mean, Cocoon fal'Cie can't destroy Cocoon? They needed tools..."

Vanille stepped forward.

"If we can stop this by doing nothing, urgh, we'll do nothing!"

Raines seemed to scoff.

"Noble. I expected as much."

Suddenly, Snow's voice, deep and darkened with anger reached their ears.

"You lied to us. What happened to your dream of rebuilding Cocoon for the people?! Was it all a lie?"

Raines face didn't register any chance as he lifted his hands.

"I shadow of a dream from when I was human. It was change I craved. And once I built the influence to make things happen, there was change. I gained all the power I could hope for, but was a puppet with no will to wield it. It wasn't the fal'Cie who changed. It was me."

A brand on the back of his hand began to glow through the fabric of his gloves. Vanille's sad voice rang out.

"You...were made a l'Cie?"

"A l'Cie. Tied to an inescapable Focus. A slave of destiny. I'd lost hope. I'd all but given up on dreams of freedom."

"What are you saying?" Sazh asked.

"I'm here of my own accord," he responded," Not by fal'Cie order. Seeing you fight brought it all back. Brought back that future I once strove for. I, too, will challenge my fate."

L'Cie power surged through him, pushing the group back and surrounding them with a pressure from him. With a snap, he created a circular cage around them so they could not escape.

"If I can defeat you here, the fal'Cie plan will fail."

Rayne stumbled backwards in surprise.

"He's lost it!"

Fang yelled at him.

"Raines!"

"I will use all my remaining power. I will set you free."

The group pulled out their weapons. It was a hard battle, but their strength and numbers took him down. He stumbled before falling to the ground, panting. They put away their weapons, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Raines said," The only thing I wanted was a moment of triumph. How it ends isn't important. Just do what you know is right. Trust yourselves."

A blinding light erupted from him, making them all shield their eyes. When the light had dimmed and they looked back, he was made of crystal. They looked at him in shock. Sazh glanced around.

"What? Did he complete his Focus?"

Snow shook his head and moved toward the crystallized man.

"I don't think so. All Raines did was try to save Cocoon in his own way. His own way!"

Angrily, Snow stormed away from the group to protests and questions of where he was going. Rayne ran after him while the others stayed back. A relative distance from the group, Rayne reached out a hand to Snow's arm. He turned sharply to look at her.

"Don't let it get to you. I know it's hard...but we can save Cocoon! Raines...his way wasn't the right way to do it. We'll find a way."

The young girl and the man stared at each other until Snow's face softened. He reached out a hand and placed it on her head as the others reached them.

"Good to move on?" Lightning asked.

Rayne nodded, giving Snow a quick smile. Snow could only let the side of his mouth twitch before following them forward on their journey. It was quite awhile before they reached a seemingly dead end. The area looked like an old city had fallen over entirely.

"How about down there?" Sazh asked, looking for a way to go.

Rayne stopped walking next to Vanille who looked thoughtful.

"If the stories are right, it's a maze."

Fang folded her arms, irritated.

"This place is a boot camp for l'Cie. All kinds of challenges from Gran Pulse are waiting."

"Challenges, huh?" Sazh snorted," To get us all ready to go wipe out Cocoon?"

"We can wait here if turning Cie'th sounds better."

No one had a response to Fang's smart remark. Sazh was getting supremely frustrated.

"I have had enough of this! Where's the way out!?" he screamed.

Snow responded to everyone's surprise.

"Way out? Who said there was one? Bring it on. My mind is made up. Maybe I will end up a Cie'th. But until that happens, I'm gonna make Serah proud. I couldn't bring myself to admit that this tear meant good-bye. And that's why I kept searching for her."

He tossed her tear up into the air before catching it again.

"But I didn't need to. Serah was here the whole time. Right here, watching over me," he continued, putting his hand to his heart. Now I get it. What this tear's been telling me is not to let our Focus win. It's not the fal'Cie we should listen to. It's Serah, and Raines. Do you know why?"

Rayne smiled along with a few of the others, like Hope and Sazh.

"Because our Focus doesn't matter! What matters to me is that we protect Cocoon, whatever it takes."

"Same here," Vanille chirped, moving over to him," I'll help you do it."

He held out his fist with Serah's tear in it. Vanille placed her hand on it. Rayne was quick to follow.

"Of course I'm helping," she smiled.

Hope's hand was quickly placed on top of hers.

"All right. I'm in."

The four of them laughed as Sazh's baby chocobo landed on their hands, signaling Sazh was in. Lightning rolled her eyes.

"I mean, come on!" Snow laughed," When a chocobo agrees, you know you're on the right path!"

They were all stunned as Fang suddenly voiced her opinion.

"Well, count me out."

She walked to the edge of the railing leading down to the mess of buildings.

"If you all want to go it on your own...then so will I!"

It was a jolt to the group as she brandished her staff at them.

"Let Cocoon get what's coming. They hate us for being l'Cie. What's it to me if they die? Better that than watch a friend go Cie'th. If you don't have the nerve for it, I'll do it myself. Go on alone, get stronger, and smash Cocoon out of the sky!"

Vanille ran forward toward her companion, protesting. Fang fell to the ground in pain, reminiscent of when Rayne had fallen before getting Valefor.

"You turn Cie'th and there's no coming back! I'm not...letting it end that way."

Her brand began to glow. It was obviously burning her since she gripped her arm. She began to scream as an Eidolon came tearing down from the ceiling. Vanille ran to Fang as the creature flew down and appeared as a dragon-looking creature. They all came to surround Fang while facing the Eidolon.

"What's he doing here?" Fang asked," Come to take pity on me? Come to take care of a broken l'Cie?"

Snow stepped forward.

"That thing's here to help us?"

"Yeah. 'Help'. That's what Eidolons do, they help us. Eidolons are our salvation. If we can't decide what to do next, they come put us out of our misery."

"Wait, so you haven't made up your mind yet!" Snow asked.

Rayne sighed as she pulled out her knives like the rest had drawn their weapons.

"Not the moment to point that out," she told him," Fang, you need to fight it."

As the Eidolan prepared to strike, Lightning and Snow stepped forward, blocking Fang. A blast ricocheted off of Snow's crossed arms from the creature.

"Why are you protecting me?" Fang demanded," What are you doing?"

"Protecting one of our own," Lightning answered," We can do without their brand of mercy. And we don't need a fal'Cie's orders, either. I'm fighting this Focus to the end. We all are. So please...fight with us."

Fang took the hand that Lightning extended to her. Vanille and Lightning followed her to the front while the others stood waiting as back-up. Soon enough, they had subdued the Eidolon named Bahamut. As Fang looked at her brand once the Eidolon disappeared, Vanille cried out.

"Look! A new path!"

A path of see-through crystal had popped up.

"Maybe that thing did save us!" Vanille announced.

Snow grinned.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to call it a sign of me being right? No? Okay..."

Everyone just looked at him as he continued.

"Listen. Keep our eyes on the goal and we'll figure something out! All right!"

They all followed Snow down the path. Shortly that were confronted with a ship that according to Vanille was from Gran Pulse. Rayne didn't pay much attention until Fang gasped.

"-a gate to Gran Pulse!"

They could just see up toward the ceiling a green gate.

"So...we're supposed to go to Gran Pulse?" Rayne asked.

"Could be one of Dysley's traps," Lightning commented.

Vanille turned to her.

"Well that's not good. Do you think it might take us to Eden?"

Sazh grunted his disagreement.

"I'm doing the flying. No more of these ships taking charge of our travel plans stuff. Only place this thing is taking us is where these boys tell it to," he said, flexing.

Fang gave a fake laugh.

"Ha! Really? _That_ is a Gran Pulse ship."

"Really?" Sazh retorted," Leave it to me."

He thumped his chest before coughing heavily. Rayne couldn't help but laugh along with the others. Snow shrugged and moved forward.

"Either way, we're on borrowed time. Might as well go. We get lucky, maybe we'll even turn up some way to get rid of these goofy tatoos."

Vanille looked down sadly.

"But there's no way to do that."

Fang pet the girl's head.

"You never know. Maybe we just didn't think to look for one."

"If nothing else," Hope added," we know Cocoon is safe for the time being. I'd say it's worth going to take a look."

Lightning looked at him for a moment.

"Maybe. But what about your dad?"

Hope hesitated, but Rayne put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her as she grinned slightly. He breathed in and looked at Lightning.

"I made him a promise. I promised him to keep going, and do what I had to. He said only I would know what that was. The world's full of lies. There's no way of knowing what's right. All we can do is believe in ourselves. It's easy to sit back and let people trick you. Like how the Sanctum had us all thinking that a l'Cie was some sort of monster."

Hope looked over at Rayne, whose hand had dropped from his shoulder. He watched her bottom lip tremble slightly at his words.

"I'm done with their lies. Fal'Cie, this whole Focus thing. From here on out, I use my eyes. Think. And act. I may not make all the right choices. But as long as I'm the one who decided what to do, there's nothing to regret."

He looked around at everyone. Vanille laughed softly while Lightning agreed. Rayne gave him a gentle smile. Sazh moved forward and shook Hope's shoulders.

"All right. Let's do it! I'm with you, bad choices and all!"

"Of course I'm not sure how it's gonna turn out. Pulse is hell, you know."

Fang went up and gave him a teasing look.

"Oh, is it, now? How many times have you been up there?"

Hope laughed.

"None. But I want to go, and see what it's like for myself."

"Okay, people!" Snow announced," So, everybody in?"

They all voiced their agreement.

"Off to hell we go," Lightning joked.

As they all moved onto the ship, Hope turned back to see Rayne bringing up the rear. He grabbed her hand suddenly and pulled her up with him. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"I meant what I said. I made a mistake because of the lies the Sanctum told us. Because of that I made mistakes when it came to you. I should have been a better friend."

Rayne bit her lip, but smiled quickly.

"I understand. If my parents had turned me away, I would have believed I was a monster as well. I just...thought of you as one of the most important people to me. That like them, you would understand. I should have been more understanding myself. Knowing what the Sanctum wants people to believe. I was being selfish."

Hope squeezed her hand, which was still in his.

"It's in the past. Let's make a future that is better. I won't push you away again. I promise."

They smiled at each other before releasing hands as they stepped onto the ship.


End file.
